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Jezekilj 40

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1 Dvadeset pete godine robovanja našeg, u početku godine, deseti dan meseca, četrnaeste godine od kako se uze grad, isti dan dođe nada me ruka Gospodnja i odvede me onamo.

2 Utvarama Božjim odvede me u zemlju Izrailjevu, i postavi me na goru vrlo visoku, na kojoj beše s juga kao sagrađen grad.

3 I odvede me onamo, i gle, čovek, koji na oči beše kao od bronze, s užem lanenim u ruci i s trskom meračkom, i stajaše na vratima.

4 I progovori mi taj čovek: Sine čovečji, gledaj očima svojim i slušaj ušima svojim, i uzmi na um sve što ću ti pokazati, jer si doveden ovamo da ti pokažem; kaži domu Izrailjevom sve što vidiš.

5 I gle, beše zid spolja oko doma, a u ruci onom čoveku trska meračka od šest lakata, a lakat beše s podlanice duži od običnog; i izmeri građevinu u širinu, i beše jedna trska, i u visinu, i beše jedna trska.

6 Pa dođe na vrata koja behu prema istoku, i iziđe uz basamake, i izmeri jedan prag vratima, i beše u širinu jedna trska, i drugi prag, i beše u širinu jedna trska;

7 I kleti, i svaka beše jednu trsku duga i jednu trsku široka; a između kleti beše pet lakata; i prag na vratima kod trema na unutrašnjim vratima, i beše s jedne trske.

8 I izmeri trem na vratima unutrašnjim, i beše jedna trska.

9 I izmeri trem na vratima, i beše osam lakata; i dovratnike im, i behu dva lakta; a trem na vratima beše iznutra;

10 I kleti kod vrata prema istoku behu tri amo i tri tamo, jedne mere sve tri, i jedne mere behu dovratnici tamo i amo.

11 I izmeri širinu vratima, i beše deset lakata, i trinaest lakata beše u dužinu vratima.

12 I pred kletima beše mesta jedan lakat, i za jedan lakat beše mesta s druge strane, i u svakoj kleti beše šest lakata od tuda i šest lakata od ovuda.

13 Posle izmeri vrata od krova jedne kleti do krova druge, i beše u širinu dvadeset i pet lakata, vrata prema vratima.

14 I načini dovratnike od šezdeset lakata, i pred dovratnicima trem na vratima unaokolo.

15 I od lica vrata na koja se ulazi do lica trema na unutrašnjim vratima beše pedeset lakata.

16 I behu prozori na kletima i na dovratnicima njihovim suženi unutra oko vrata, tako i na tremovima, prozori behu iznutra svuda unaokolo, i po dovratnicima palme.

17 Potom me uvede u spoljašnji trem, i gle, behu kleti i pod načinjen svuda unaokolo u tremu, trideset kleti na podu.

18 A taj pod pokraj vrata prema dužini vrata beše niži pod.

19 Potom izmeri širinu od lica donjih vrata do lica unutrašnjeg trema spolja, i beše sto lakata k istoku i severu.

20 I vrata koja behu k severu na tremu spoljašnjem izmeri u dužinu i u širinu;

21 I behu tri kleti tamo i tri amo, i dovratnici im i tremovi behu iste mere kao u prvih vrata; pedeset lakata beše u dužinu a u širinu dvadeset i pet lakata;

22 I prozori im i tremovi i palme behu na meru kao na vratima koja gledaju na istok, i iđaše se k njima uza sedam basamaka, i tremovi behu pred njima.

23 I vrata od unutrašnjeg trema behu prema vratima severnim i istočnim, i izmeri od vrata do vrata, i beše sto lakata.

24 Posle me odvede k jugu, i gle, behu vrata prema jugu; i izmeri im dovratnike i tremove, i beše ista mera.

25 I behu prozori na njima i na tremovima njihovim unaokolo kao oni prozori; pedeset lakata beše u dužinu i dvadeset i pet lakata u širinu.

26 I iđaše se k njima uza sedam basamaka, i tremovi behu pred njima, i palme jedna od tuda, a jedna od ovuda po dovratnicima.

27 I vrata od unutrašnjeg trema behu prema jugu; i izmeri od vrata do vrata k jugu, i beše sto lakata.

28 Tada me uvede u unutrašnji trem južnim vratima; i izmeri južna vrata, i beše ista mera.

29 I kleti njihove i dovratnici i tremovi behu iste mere, i prozori na njima i na tremovima unaokolo; pedeset lakata beše u dužinu, i dvadeset i pet lakata u širinu.

30 I tremovi behu unaokolo, dvadeset i pet lakata u dužinu i pet lakata u širinu.

31 I tremovi im behu prema spoljašnjem tremu, i palme po dovratnicima, i uz osam basamaka iđaše se k njima.

32 Potom me odvede u unutrašnji trem k istoku, i izmeri vrata, i beše ista mera;

33 I kleti im i dovratnici i tremovi behu iste mere; i behu prozori na njima i na tremovima njihovim unaokolo; u dužinu beše pedeset lakata, a u širinu dvadeset i pet lakata;

34 I tremovi im behu prema spoljašnjem tremu, i palme po dovratnicima i tamo i amo, i uz osam basamaka iđaše se k njima.

35 Potom odvede me na severna vrata i izmeri ih, i behu iste mere.

36 Tako i kleti im i dovratnici i tremovi i prozori unaokolo; u dužinu pedeset lakata, a u širinu dvadeset i pet lakata.

37 I dovratnici im behu prema spoljašnjem tremu, i palme po dovratnicima i tamo i amo, i uz osam basamaka iđaše se k njima.

38 I kleti s vratima behu kod dovratnika tih vrata, onde se prahu žrtve paljenice.

39 A u tremu od vrata behu dva stola s jedne strane i dva stola s druge strane da se na njima kolju žrtve paljenice i žrtve za greh i za krivicu;

40 I na strani spolja kako se ulazi na severna vrata behu dva stola, i na drugoj strani u tremu od istih vrata behu dva stola;

41 Četiri stola behu s jedne strane i Četiri s druge strane uz vrata, osam stolova, na kojima se koljaše.

42 A četiri stola za žrtvu paljenicu behu od tesanog kamena, u dužinu podrug lakta, i podrug lakta u širinu a u visinu jedan lakat, i na njima se ostavljaše oruđe kojima se koljahu žrtve paljenice i druge žrtve.

43 I unutra behu kuke s podlanice svuda u naokolo, a na stolove se metaše meso od žrtava.

44 I spolja pred vratima unutrašnjim behu kleti za pevače u unutrašnjem tremu; jedne behu uz vrata severna i gledahu prema jugu, a druge behu uz istočna vrata i gledahu prema severu.

45 Tada mi reče: Ove kleti što gledaju na jug jesu za sveštenike koji služe oko doma;

46 A one kleti što gledaju na sever jesu za sveštenike koji služe kod oltara; to su sinovi Sadokovi, koji između sinova Levijevih pristupaju ka Gospodu da Mu služe.

47 Potom izmeri trem, i beše u dužinu sto lakata i u širinu sto lakata, četvrtast; i oltar beše pred domom.

48 Posle me odvede u trem od doma, i izmeri dovratnike tremu, i beše pet lakata otud i pet lakata odovud; a vrata behu široka tri lakta otud i tri lakta odovud;

49 Dužina tremu beše dvadeset lakata, a širina jedanaest lakata, i uz basamake se iđaše k njemu, i stupovi behu uz dovratnike, jedan otud i jedan odovud.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #671

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671. Clothed in clean bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden sashes. This symbolically means, this [a preparation by the Lord for influx into the church] 1 in accordance with the pure and genuine truths and goods in the Word.

Clean bright linen symbolizes pure, genuine truth, as we will show below. A golden sash about the breast symbolizes the emanating Divinity that at the same time conjoins, namely Divine good (no. 46 above). To be clothed and girded means, symbolically, to appear and be seen in this truth and goodness, for garments symbolize truths that clothe goodness (no. 166). Sashes or girdles then symbolize truths and goods that hold everything in their order and connection (no. 46).

It is apparent from this that angels clothed in clean bright linen and girded about their breasts with golden sashes symbolize pure and genuine truths and goods, and because these come only from the Word, they symbolize truths and goods in the Word.

[2] That linen symbolizes Divine truth can be seen from the following, as that Aaron wore linen breeches when he entered the Tabernacle or approached the altar (Exodus 28:42-43). That the priests wore linen ephods (1 Samuel 22:18). That when Samuel as a child ministered before Jehovah, he wore a linen ephod (1 Samuel 2:18). That when David was transporting the Ark into his city he was girded with a linen ephod (2 Samuel 6:14).

It can be seen from this why, when the Lord washed the disciples' feet, He girded Himself in linen and wiped their feet with linen 2 (John 13:4-5).

Moreover, the angels seen in the Lord's sepulcher appeared in dazzling bright white clothing (Matthew 28:3 [cf. Luke 24]).

[4]. The angel who measured the new temple had in his hand a line of linen (Ezekiel 40:3). In order that he might represent the state of the church with respect to truth, Jeremiah was told to buy a linen sash and hide it in a hole in the rock by the Euphrates, and later he found it ruined (Jeremiah 13:1-7). We read, too, in Isaiah:

A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking linen He will not quench; He will bring forth justice in truth. (Isaiah 42:3)

By linen in these places nothing else is meant but truth.

Footnotes:

1. I.e., a preparation by the Lord for influx from the inmost of heaven into the church, to expose its evils and falsities in their entirety and so to separate evil people from the good (no. 670 above).

2. The writer here follows the Latin translation of Sebastian Schmidt, who mistakes the Greek lention (levntion, a towel) to have the same meaning as the Latin linteum (linen).

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #47

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47. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow. (1:14) This symbolizes the Divine love accompanying Divine wisdom in first things and last.

A person's head symbolizes everything connected with his life, and everything connected with a person's life has some relation to love and wisdom. A head consequently symbolizes both wisdom and love. However, because there is no love without its wisdom, nor wisdom without its love, therefore it is the love accompanying wisdom that is meant by a head; and when describing the Lord, it is the Divine love accompanying Divine wisdom. But on the symbolism of the head in the Word, more will be seen in nos. 538 and 568 below.

Since a head means both love and wisdom in their first forms, it follows accordingly that hair means love and wisdom in their final forms. And because the hair mentioned here describes the Son of Man, who is the Lord in relation to the Word, His hair symbolizes the Divine good connected with love, and the Divine truth connected with wisdom, in the outmost expressions of the Word - the outmost expressions of the Word being those contained in its literal sense.

[2] The idea that the hair of the Son of Man or the Lord symbolizes the Word in this sense may seem absurd, but still it is the truth. This can be seen from passages in the Word that we cited in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 35 and 49. We showed there as well that Nazirites in the Israelite Church represented the Lord in relation to the Word in its outmost expressions, which is its literal sense, as a nazir in Hebrew is a hair or head of hair. 1 That is why the power of Samson, who was a Nazirite from the womb, lay in his hair. The Divine truth similarly has power in the literal sense of the Word, as may be seen in the aforementioned Doctrine Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 37-49.

For the same reason, too, the high priest and his sons were strictly forbidden to shave their heads.

For that reason as well, forty-two of the boys who called Elisha a baldhead were torn apart by two she-bears. Like Elijah, Elisha represented the Lord in relation to the Word. A baldhead symbolizes the Word without its outmost expression, which, as said, is its literal sense, and she-bears symbolize this sense of the Word divorced from its inner meaning. Those who so divorce it, moreover, appear in the spiritual world as bears, though only at a distance. It is apparent from this why what happened to the boys happened as it did.

It was, therefore, also the highest disgrace and a mark of extreme mourning to inflict baldness.

[3] Accordingly, when the Israelite nation had completely perverted the literal sense of the Word, this lamentation over them was composed:

Her Nazirites were whiter than snow, brighter white than milk... Darker than blackness is their form. They go unrecognized in the streets. (Lamentations 4:7-8)

Furthermore:

Every head was made bald, and every shoulder shaved bare. (Ezekiel 29:18)

Shame will be on every face, and baldness on all their heads. (Ezekiel 7:18)

So similarly Isaiah 15:2, Jeremiah 48:37, Amos 8:10.

Because the children of Israel by falsities completely dissipated the literal sense of the Word, therefore the prophet Ezekiel was commanded to represent this by shaving his head with a razor and burning a third part with fire, striking a third part with a sword, and scattering a third part to the wind, and by gathering a small amount in his skirts, to cast it, too, afterward into the fire (Ezekiel 5:1-4).

[4] Therefore it is also said in Micah:

Make yourself bald and cut off your hair, because of your precious children; enlarge your baldness like an eagle, for they have departed from you. (Micah 1:16)

The precious children are the church's genuine truths from the Word.

Moreover, because Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, represented Babylon's falsification of the Word and destruction of every truth there, it accordingly came to pass that his hair grew like eagles' feathers (Daniel 4:33).

Since the hair symbolized that holy component of the Word, therefore it is said of Nazirites that they were not to shave the hair of their head, because it was the consecration of God upon their head (Numbers 6:1-21). And therefore it was decreed that the high priest and his sons were not to shave their heads, lest they die and the whole house of Israel be angered (Leviticus 10:6).

[5] Now, because hair symbolizes Divine truth in its outmost expressions, which in the church is the Word in its literal sense, therefore something similar is said also of the Ancient of Days in Daniel:

I watched till the thrones were thrown down, and the Ancient of Days was seated. His garment was as white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. (Daniel 7:9)

That the Ancient of Days is the Lord is clearly apparent in Micah:

You, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from antiquity, from days of old. (Micah 5:2)

And in Isaiah, where He is called Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6).

[6] From these passages and many others - too many to cite - it can be seen that the head and hair of the Son of Man, which were like wool, as white as snow, mean the Divine expression of love and wisdom in first things and last. And because the Son of Man means the Lord in relation to the Word, it follows that the Word, too, is meant in its first elements and last. Why else should it be that the Lord here in the book of Revelation and the Ancient of Days in Daniel are described even in respect to their hair?

That hair symbolizes the literal sense of the Word is clearly apparent from people in the spiritual world. Those who have scorned the literal sense of the Word appear bald there, and conversely, those who have loved the literal sense of the Word appear possessed of handsome hair.

The head and hair are described as being like wool and like snow because wool symbolizes goodness in outmost expressions, and snow symbolizes truth in outward expressions - as is the case also in Isaiah 1:18 2 - inasmuch as wool comes from sheep, which symbolize the goodness of charity, and snow comes from water, which symbolizes truths of faith.

Footnotes:

1. The Hebrew נָזִיר (nazir) fundamentally means "one consecrated" or "one set apart;" but as a condition of the Nazirite vow was to let the hair grow, by extension a cognate word נֵזֶר (nezer) came to mean also the hair of a Nazirite's consecration, and by analogy, a woman's long hair.

2. "Come now, and let us reason together," says Jehovah. "Though your sins be like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.